Tag Archives: Lego

Gamers have gotten pretty used to annual installments of major series, such as Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed and your usual slate of sports titles. While each of these franchises and their succeeding entries tend to dip in quality at times, the line of LEGO puzzle platformers have stayed solid throughout their tenure. Developer Traveller’s Tales let us become the Dark Knight once before and take on the moniker of hundreds of heroes and villains in Gotham City. Now they have decided to send gamers young and old into the far reaches of the universe with LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham.

LEGO Batman 3 focuses on the evil trinket collecting habits of Superman nemesis, Braniac. Braniac summons the Lantern Corps, captures them and their rings, looking to use them to shrink Earth and add it to his collection. Naturally, this universe spanning plan attracts the attention of DC’s varied gallery of memorable do-gooders and lovable baddies. The most hardcore and even vaguely familiar fan of DC Comics’ will get a kick out of the game’s plot and character interactions. The light-hearted humor present in LEGO’s games is here, of course. You’ll enjoy your time watching everyone interact (Batman and Superman’s differing personalities always leads to hilarious results) and the plot gets better over time.

The attention to detail sported here is amazing. Old school Batman fans will drop tears of sweet nostalgia once they’re greeted by the ’90s Batman cartoon theme (Supes fans will feel he love to when they hear the late ’70s movie theme). Each hub world and level contains layouts that are loyal to their source material. The game’s major hub world’s (The Batcave, Justice League Watchtower and Hall of Justice) all look great and give diehard DC fans something special. Young fans will enjoy getting introduced to the game’s hundreds of DC familiars and lesser known faces, while veteran DC heads will enjoy the nods and Easter eggs.

LEGO Batman 3 moves away from the open-world structure of the 2nd game this time around. Similar to LEGO Marvel Super Heroes, you’ll run through focused levels with several selectable characters as you collect LEGO’s and solve puzzles. The gameplay here is solid and enjoyable as usual, but it’s not exactly much different from the other LEGO games out there. You’ll enter a stage, break everything in sight, switch between characters for varying puzzle situations and fight off easy baddies. Rinse, lather, repeat. There are times when the gameplay throws little wrinkles into the formula. The Resogun-esque space shooter, additional suits for characters and always entertaining boss fights should keep you from growing tired of the somewhat stale formula. You’re continued involvement with this game depends on how strong your DC Comics fandom is.

Even though the game itself doesn’t stray too far away from the Traveller’s Tales LEGO formula, you’ll still be enamored with the charm seen in every aspect of LEGO Batman 3. You’ll always have a smile on your face as you hear heroes spout one-liners, you’ll marvel at the many variations of Batman available for play and you’ll get a kick out of engaging in co-op Free Play mode with weird character combinations. Heading into a level looking for extra items as you and a partner utilize the powers of Bat-Mite and Red Tornado is a moment that can only be experienced in this game.

LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham is a love letter the DC Comics universe that fans will fall in love with. The nostalgic nods to past iterations of heroes and villains, great visuals/audio and game changing elements will suck you in and never let go. The feeling of sameness and been there, done that with the level structure can’t be ignored, though. However, this game’s undeniable charm manages to keep you entertained for hours on end.

Traveller’s Tales has done an awesome job combining well-known properties with that famous brand of yellow building blocks. You can’t deny the fun factor and replay value that comes from the vast collection of LEGO video games developed by the studio. Gamers young and old have ventured into the LEGO-ized universes of franchises such as Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Marvel Super Heroes and more.

The next LEGO game launching in 2014 is going to focus once again on Gotham City’s finest protector and several other famous faces from the DC Universe. LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham will have hundreds of playable heroes and villains, most likely. But The Dark Knight himself will be featured prominently in the game as he’ll be sporting a bunch of different costumes.

Check out our little gallery below to see a collection of Batman’s coolest looks from the upcoming release of LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham!

Bat Suit

This ultimate super hero ensemble features a weighted cape and a cowl outfitted with night-vision technology and communications arrays. The utility belt also contains an arsenal of crime-fighting gear, including various types of offensive Batarangs.

Bruce Wayne

Keeping your super hero identity a mystery requires the need for the perfect alias (and alternate wardrobe). Bruce Wayne is just the man for the job.

Sonar Suit

The sonic pulse emitted through Batman’s sonar suit ensures nothing will get in his way of saving the galaxy!

Space Suit

Batman’s space suit is equipped with a jet pack for nimble space flight and hard-to-reach areas. Nothing’s out of reach when the Dark Knight dons this guise!

Electricity Suit

With immunity to electricity, this suit gives Batman the ultimate defense. Need a charge? Simply take it to the closest electric current and give your crime fighting a jolt!

Scuba Suit

A scuba suit in space? Batman always comes prepared. Equipped with built in swimming and diving capabilities, this suit is the perfect companion when things start getting a little wet!

Sensor Suit

Complete with stealth mode and X-ray vision, Batman’s sensor suit will show you the way when the path is unclear!

Arctic Suit

Those pesky villains are sure to stop, or should we say freeze, when Batman dons his arctic suit with Freeze Gun accessory.

Power Suit

Giving Batman the power of super strength and explosive rockets, this armor allows our Caped Crusader to take care of anything that gets in his way.

Did any of you guys expect The LEGO Movie to be as good as it was? Count us in that group of movie geeks who were caught off guard by just how AWESOME that film was (pun intended). Well now DC Comics most prolific heroes are getting the LEGO film treatment as well, but you won’t have to spend movie theater prices to see it.

The always moody but always prepared Batman and a slew of other DC Comics heroes and villains are ready to take over the small screen on Cartoon Network. Fans of all ages will certainly be tuning into LEGO Batman: Be-Leaguered!

Cartoon Network is ready to give fans young and old another LEGO feature presentation. DC’s moody Dark Knight will fight alongside his fellow Justice Leaguers in the upcoming special, LEGO Batman: Be-Leaguered. We have the first clip for you below:

Once a bunch of infamous DC baddies show up and make the Man of Steel disappear, Batman finally becomes a team player and joins up with The Flash, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Cyborg. You can expect to see Captain Cold pop up during the world saving festivities, too…

This special LEGO animated special will be followed by the release of LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham a month later. The premise for this light-hearted take on the DC Comics universe is as follows – Superman’s nemesis Brainiac manages to snag the powers held within each of the Lantern Corps’ rings. Brainiac then puts those power rings’ abilities to good use by simply shrinking Earth and other planets to add to his personal collection. Brainiac and the Legion of Doom will then have to fend off the heroes – Batman and his Justice League allies.

In celebration of Batman’s 75th Anniversary, make sure you tune into this Cartoon Network special on October 27 at 6 p.m. EST.

So remember when I professed my Lego love when talking about the Lego Movie trailer? Well, brace yourselves, it’s about to happen again. That’s because box art for the Lego Marvel Super Heroes video game has been released!!!! Yay!!!!

After playing every Batman game, both Harry Potters, and of course all the Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and most recently Lord of the Rings… I’m ready for Lego Marvel Super Heroes!

Looks like we’ve got who you’d expect to see: Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Hulk, Thing, Thor, Black Widow, Silver Surfer, Mr. Fantastic. The crazy part is that is a lot of characters right there on the box and those Lego games usually have over 100 characters that you can collect as you play so it’ll be interesting to see who all ends up in the game.

Of course it’s exciting to see the box art (love the mold holes in Wolverine’s claws), but really the best part of the game is the game itself. Thankfully there’s been some good gameplay trailers released and quite a bit that came out of E3 this year.

Looks pretty good right? Yeah, it does. Even though I’m a DC girl all the way, I can not wait for Lego Marvel Super Heroes. When I’ll have to wait until has yet to be seen as Tt Games is sticking with a release date of “Fall 2013″.

In today’s world of ever-changing internet trends, it is easy to miss even “big” sites. Don’t believe me? Go ask all those people still hanging out on MySpace. One you might not have heard of is Pinterest– especially if you are male. As opposed to in the U.K. where the majority of Pinterest users are professional males, here in the U.S. it’s mainly women, women who are into house decorating and cooking and home tending and you get the picture.

Because that is the majority of users and their pins, does not mean that Pinterest does not have something to offer for those not the least bit interested in the Martha Stewart arts. Au contraire! A little run down of how Pinterest works. It is basically “visual bookmarks”- instead of saving sites to your browser, you can “pin” them to your Pinterest board instead. When you pin something, you pin it to a certain board. For example, when you look at either the Grizzly Bomb Pinterest page, or my own personal Pinterest page (first you can tell that I’ve been on Pinterest much longer than Grizzly Bomb!), you can see that there are separate boards for various categories. Everyone can make their own boards, you aren’t forced into having a “home” board if you don’t want one. But what if you want to see what other people are pinning to their boards? Well you have two options: First you can choose to follow people (I think following Grizzly Bomb would be a great board to follow, just saying) and then whatever they pin will show up on the Pinterest equivalent of your Facebook wall. The second option is what brings us together here today, categories.There are various categories ranging in topics from fashion and humor to art and photography. The best category however, and the category that even people who could not give a rat’s ass about home decor or the latest in fall fashion could find something for them, is the Geek category.

Because I know that not everyone has the disposable free time that I do, and because I would hate for anyone to miss any geeky goodness, and frankly, because I’m such a wonderful and giving person, I have taken it upon myself to compile a weekly “Best finds in the Pinterest Geek Category this Week!!!!!!!” for your perusal. There is no need to send gifts, or money, or songs you have written in my honor (although they certainly won’t be turned away)- no, your gratitude is enough to keep me going.

So with all that out-of-the-way… I bring you this week’s “Best Finds in the Pinterest Geek Category this Week!!!!!!!”

Because I’m the one running this particular show, we are going to start with a pin that combines two of my favorite things in this world, LEGO and Batman. Those men right there are holding perhaps one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen- a Batcave built out of LEGOs. Let me repeat that. This is a Batcave built entirely out of LEGO bricks. When I scrolled past this the other day I did a double take and then one of my dogs had to revive me when I passed out from too much awesome.

Ask pretty much any woman who seriously plays video games to name some pet peeves and more than likely the sentiment behind this pin will be listed. It drives me nuts when people (oddly enough, not always just men) assume that if you are a girl who games you are one of these three types:

a.) a supermodel who doesn’t know her a,x,y, and b from her x, square, triangle and circle

b.) a girl who uses her husband/boyfriend’s XBox to play bejeweled on the big screen

c.) an idiot who thinks the Playstation is just a really fancy dvd player

Believe it or not, there are quite of a few of us who look forward to the release of Halo 4 just as much as any guy.

As I say all that, I must caveat, I love playing video games and am rather good at campaigns and questing. When it comes to multi-player however? I am just awful. Unless I have a war hammer. Given a war hammer, I am unstoppable. Okay, maybe not unstoppable, but I do actually kill other people so that’s a plus.

Another big thing on Pinterest is outfits. I am so not an outfit kind of gal, my everyday attire is either jeans or pajama pants and whatever t-shirt I happen to grab, so when I came across this one I was sort of surprised that I’d finally seen an outfit I would wear. There’s no chance I’d carry that purse, but the rest of it? Love it.

Random quirk about Pinterest- when you go to “re-pin” something, most of the time people do not change the description. Whoever pinned this at one point described it as “ridiculous”. I think we can all agree that what they meant to type was “awesome”. There is absolutely no way that this could ever be described as ridiculous. It has all the components of epic-ness.

Office products used in a new and exciting way… check

Beloved video game character… check

Old school version of beloved video game character… check

Incredible representation of the above… check

Just awesome in general… check, check, check

Yea sorry original pinner, I’m going to have to wholeheartedly disagree with your “ridiculous” description.

The sad part about Pinterest, just like the internet, is the lack of a built-in fact checker. I think we can all agree the creator of this meme pin had a good idea but just failed, horribly, in its execution. However, I happen to adore Cobie Smulders and love How I Met Your Mother so I’m able to look past the error.

Now that Halloween has arrived, we are fully into the “holiday season” so it’s about time everyone start thinking about their gingerbread houses. I would like to put forth the argument that this particular gingerbread creation would kick every other gingerbread creation’s ass.

There we have it, the inaugural run of “Best Finds in the Pinterest Geek Category this Week!!!!!”.

If you have watched Adult Swim at all recently, you probably saw an incredibly vague promo for “The Greatest Even in Television History”, much like this one:

If you follow Adam Scott on twitter, you might have seen pictures like this:

And if you happen to be scrolling through your tumblr dashboard, you might have seen this:

What does it all mean? What is it about? Will it truly be the “Greatest Event in Television History”? Why is Jon Hamm carrying strappy sandals? Doesn’t he know that those are a n0-no after Labor Day?

Sidenote: I have about as much fashion knowledge as my dog Ninja so it’s very possible that the sandal thing isn’t even a thing.

You have questions and I have answers!

Have you ever had one of those moments with a friend where the two of you sit back and say,

“You know what would be cool? We should make a TV show about how Lego minifigs come to life at night and there is a Romeo and Juliet kind of dynamic between the City Lego minifigs and the Kingdoms Lego minifigs. And we should have Anthony Hopkins be the King of the Kingdoms Lego just like he was the King in First Knight. Yea, that would be awesome.”

This is, sort of but not really, exactly what happened between Adam Scott of Parks and Recreation and Jon Hamm of Mad Men. Except instead of making a movie out of Lego minifigs they decided to recreate the title sequence to the somewhat popular 80’s show, Simon and Simonstarring Gerald McRaney and Jameson Parker. Apparently when you have the money and the means, an email conversation back and forth can become The Greatest Event in Television History.

“But I missed it!” you might cry. Do not fret my child, the internet will always provide. I present to you, The Greatest Event in Television History.

Ok, so the video has been removed, but you can still watch it at Adult Swim – CLICK HERE

So…. was it as amazing as you thought it’d be? For me, yes. I am a huge fan of ridiculous and pointless. I’ve said for years that I would be the perfect audience member for America’s Funniest (Home) Videos. I will laugh at almost anything. The more pointless it is, the more entertaining I usually find it. So yes, I found the Greatest Event in Television History to be quite entertaining. Not to mention, some of my favorite actors made appearances- Paul Scheer as the protester and the always incredible Kathryn Hahn as the dance teacher.

I think the biggest question on peoples minds now is- how accurate was it? Again, the internet will provide.

Watch this and you be the judge:

Amazing! No seriously, that is actually pretty damn close. We could quibble about the color of Jon Hamm’s shirt in the “water in the boot” scene and suggest that Adam Scott perhaps do a few more of those pull ups, but that would just be petty. Not to mention I am so not in a place to make a comment on the physical fitness of another person.

Overall, I think we need more random but entertaining things in our lives. Something that serves no purpose but to sit back and say, “Well done sirs, well done.”

If you did just that, then this next bit of news will be of particular interest. It seems that Adam Scott and his wife, Naomi, have formed their own production company called Gettin’ Rad Productions. They announced this along with the news that due to the success of The Greatest Event in Television History, they have signed on to do three more specials with Adult Swim. Not only that but they have optioned Chuck Klosterman’s first novel, Downtown Owl. Things are busy in Adam Scott’s world.

But that’s not all! The long-awaited Party Down movie apparently has actors on board and even the money. Adam Scott and Lizzy Caplan look to reprising their roles as Henry and Casey. All I know is if this happens, I will camp out at the theater to make sure I get in to see it. I don’t even care if I’m the only person there, it is going to happen. I have watched every episode of Party Down a thousand times and I will be crushed if the movie doesn’t come to fruition. CRUSHED!

You would think that would be all. You would be wrong. If you are a Parks and Recreation fan, especially if you are a fan who frequents internet sites concerning the show, you might have seen this picture at some point.

Philly Justice- the show that wasn’t, but still was, and yet wasn’t…. but it was? Amy Poehler explains it much better than I.

Why mention this? Here’s the thing- Dylan McDermott tweeted earlier- “PHILLY JUSTICE! COMING SOON ON FUNNY OR DIE!!!” Seems as if Philly Justice will live again, for the first time.

That is a lot of news, in a little bit of space. Time to watch The Greatest Event in Television History again. Here’s hoping Jon Hamm doesn’t die this time.

New Lego Arkham Asylum Set Announced – If you like Lego and Batman you’ll love this neat looking enormous new 1351 piece set. It also includes 8 minifigs – including Batman, Robin and The Joker. [Comics Alliance]

7 Completely Insane Golden And Silver Age Superhero Origins – Including Mr. Satan and The Zebra. These are definitely bat shit crazy. Perhaps you know of more bonkers ones. [Topless Robot]

Las Vegas Comic Expo 2012 Cosplay Pictures – Ok, so they’re not all comic book related but they do include Batman, Batgirl, Bane, Black Widow and even a great Lady Rocketeer. [Geeks Are Sexy]

Batman Fan Art – A plethora…a gaggle…a flock…a…what is the collective noun for a group of Batmans…Batmen…I give up. [Project: Rooftop]

The Ten Worst One Liners From Batman And Robin – Staying with Batman here is 10 truly terrible one liners from the most terrible Batman film ever. [Comics Should Be Good!]

DC vs Marvel At The Box Office – Sticking with films, here is an infographic looking at the U.S. box office performance of DC and Marvel over the last 50 years. Who will lose? Considering both Batman And Robin and Catwoman are on this list, I think we do. [Fancy Dress Costumes]

Weird And Inappropriate Toys – A look at some of the toys that really should have never have escaped. Including the infamous Wolverine inflatable hammer. [io9]

Probably The Greatest Wonder Woman Panel In Comic History – This is just…fantastic. [io9]

Avengers Pugs – And finally, here are 4 pugs cosplaying as the Avengers. They are so cute it’s unbelievable. [Gamma Squad]

Toy Fair 2012 wraps up today in the city that never sleeps and from action figures to high-tech toys to creepy Barbies that take photos and then display them on their stomach there’s something for everyone.

LEGO’s ninja-themed playset NINJAGO Fire Temple was good enough to win Activity Toy of the Year award but makes me glad I don’t have kids yet when I see the $120 price tag. Yikes!

Perhaps one of the weirdest/coolest/most useless items available this year is the opportunity to pre-order an authentic replica Back to the Future hover board! It does disclaim actual hovering but does allow you to release your inner Marty McFly for what is still an undisclosed price until early March.

This is the Hero Spidey Express for February 03, 2012:

Not something we’ve all been waiting for, but the synopsis has been released and certainly seems to be trying to prove a point. Sony is really pushing the idea that this movie will be completely different than Raimi’s trilogy, despite the fact that its the same story with different tweaks. I’d further extrapolate on that, but they already do such a good job at the link above. Here’s the synopsis:

One of the world’s most popular characters is back on the big screen as a new chapter in the Spider-Man legacy is revealed in “The Amazing Spider-Man.” Focusing on an untold story that tells a different side of the Peter Parker story, the new film stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, Campbell Scott, Irrfan Khan, with Martin Sheen and Sally Field. The film is directed by Marc Webb from a screenplay written by James Vanderbilt, based on the Marvel Comic Book by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Laura Ziskin, Avi Arad, and Matt Tolmach are producing the film in association with Marvel Entertainment for Columbia Pictures, which will open in theaters everywhere in 3D on July 3, 2012.

“The Amazing Spider-Man” is the story of Peter Parker (Garfield), an outcast high schooler who was abandoned by his parents as a boy, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle Ben (Sheen) and Aunt May (Field). Like most teenagers, Peter is trying to figure out who he is and how he got to be the person he is today. Peter is also finding his way with his first high school crush, Gwen Stacy (Stone), and together, they struggle with love, commitment, and secrets. As Peter discovers a mysterious briefcase that belonged to his father, he begins a quest to understand his parents’ disappearance – leading him directly to Oscorp and the lab of Dr. Curt Connors (Ifans), his father’s former partner. As Spider-Man is set on a collision course with Connors’ alter-ego, The Lizard, Peter will make life-altering choices to use his powers and shape his destiny to become a hero.

A cool look at Andrew Garfield in full on Spidey mode. He’s got the look, the pose, and the web-shooters, but something about how huge his mane is keeps bugging me. If you wear a mask you can’t be rocking a hipster coif, it just doesn’t work. Trust me, I know. Still a cool pic, though.

A cool look at some of the marketing being done in London. Images are being projected onto buildings while a new site has been set up where fans can register for a sneak peek at the “Untold Story”. Check the website at TheUntoldStoryBegins.com to see if you live in one of the cities. Let’s take a look at some of the building projections:

While there are no major details, it does give us an idea of the connection between the characters in Marc Webb‘s reboot. The conference featured Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and producers Avi Arad and Matthew Tolmach answering questions and announcing that Japan will be the first to see The Amazing Spider-Man on June 30th. Pictures are from /Film:

“In our movie, [Peter] finds his true love,” said Arad, when asked what sets this adventure apart from Sam Raimi’s trilogy. “Gwen Stacy was always the true love of Peter Parker… We found a very, very good story about what makes a human being. About what sets their destiny.”

He went on to tease that Rhys Ifans’ Connors will have connection to both Peter and Gwen and, apparently, Peter’s parents.

“We introduce our villain, Dr. Connors,” he continued, “and in the great tradition of Marvel, Dr. Connors is going to be connected to Peter Parker and, in our case even more interesting, to Gwen Stacy. Right there, the challenge of having to deal with a villain who is a mentor and the only one who you can look at and say, ‘So what really happened to my dad?’ That’s a very hard person to fight.”

Special footage was screened for the Japanese press which, according to Garfield, emphasized the physical nature of the film’s effects.

“As you can see, a lot of the stunts are practical and grounded in reality,” he explained. “That was something that Marc, the director, really wanted to make sure happened in this movie to set it apart from previous ones… I would exhaust myself every day and get into near-death experiences every hour on the hour… I collaborated with [the stunt team] not only on the big stunt set-pieces but also on what happens to Peter’s body when he gets bitten. What happens to his DNA and how that effects the way he moves and the way he interacts with objects. The idea that he has spider DNA running in his system. What that will do to his sense of space. What that will do to the sensitivity of his skin. To have an opportunity to play in that forum with creative and talented people was a real opportunity and gift.”

Stone reiterated that her take on Stacy will be a complete departure from the version played by Bryce Dallas Howard in Spider-Man 3.

“We haven’t even met Mary Jane at this point,” she said, in an arguably cryptic statement.

When asked if the film would duplicate the upside down kiss from the original, Stone said no, but then responded with the following when asked if Webb’s version would offer something similarly iconic:

“You don’t want to know! You want to watch the movie and find out. Plus, it would be weird if we were like, ‘There’s something iconic coming up!’ You’ve got to decide if it’s iconic or not. But there is a nice first kiss and it’s different than the upside down one. And we liked it.”

A couple of new images of Pete and Gwen that show the characters a little different then we are used to seeing them. First off is an image of Peter rocking a Ramones T-Shirt, which is something you would never see in the comics but I dig it. And followed by Gwen at a funeral, which is something we’ve seen before, but with no idea of who’s funeral. Could be Uncle Ben, but it could also be another character that fans of Spidey know hasn’t got much time to spend alive in these movies.

!SPOILER WARNING!

Seriously, if you don’t want the end of the movie ruined for you , stop reading immediately. Still with me?

So it seems that the biggest leaks/reveals seem to be coming from the toy companies lately. Amazing Spider-Man is no different, as our first look at the Lizard was through a toy, and now revealing what could very well be the final battle of the film.

Bleeding Cool spotted another product-based clue to the film’s plot that threatens to be a bit more spoiler-heavy, also involving Spidey’s reptilian foe.

The below image shows off the package design for a set of Mega Bloks titled “Oscorp Tower FX Battle.” The three characters included are Spider-Man, the Lizard and “SWAT Lizard,” the reveal of which seems to confirm a report from nearly a year ago by Big Fanboy that claimed the conclusion of the film would involve Dr. Connors transforming an entire SWAT team into his lizard-like minions.

Wow. That’s a pretty big reveal MegaBloks. Way to go. I know everyone prefers Lego but that doesn’t mean you have to completely ruin the movie for us. Oh well, I’ll live. I’m not even going to comment on the use of “SWAT Lizard’s” in the film, because my brain doesn’t seem to want to process that information. Fell free to leave your thoughts on that down below.

And that’s it for this edition of the Hero Express! Check us out next time where we take a look at some Man of Steelnews!